1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that receives an image file transferred from an image supplying apparatus that is connected thereto via an interface to print image data in the image file, an image printing system, a program, and an image combining and outputting method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, to print image data acquired with a digital still camera, an image file that includes the image data is temporarily downloaded in a personal computer (PC). The downloaded image data is then loaded into application software for images, and processed and edited if necessary. Finally, the image data is printed on the PC by using a printer driver. Conventional printing of digital images is not simple because it requires data transfer to PCs and application software.
Recently, the standard for a direct print system is defined that a digital still camera as an image supplying apparatus is connected to a printer device as an image forming apparatus without using a PC so that images files in the digital still camera can be directly printed out. Digital cameras and printer devices that support the standard are becoming widespread (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-064740). According to such digital cameras and printer devices corresponding to the standard for the direct print system, image files can be directly transferred from the digital still cameras to the printer devices and can be printed without using PCs.
Digital still cameras can, at a time of imaging, record titles and text information corresponding to the taken images in an Exchangeable Image File Format (Exif) header. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-224750 describes a digital still camera that a character string associated with an image is input in the digital still camera and then stored in the Exif header of the image. The information thus embedded into the Exif header is used for managing or searching for the image on a PC.
The standard for the direct print system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-064740 is a communication command format that is common to various manufacturers, and selections are made on User Interfaces (UIs) for digital still cameras and the selected data is output. Thus, complicated printing specifications are not prepared and only outputs with limited functions are made possible, as compared to outputs from PCs.
Specifically, the specifications only allow one image to be output on a sheet. Even if a plurality of images are output on a sheet, output results that suit user's taste cannot be obtained because complicated layout specifications are not made possible. Basically, the direct print system is provided to output taken images in a manner that photographic films that silver photographs are taken thereon are output on photographic printing paper. For example, outputs that include an area where memos are added to a sheet with output images and standard formats for attaching images (e.g., reports, minutes of meetings, resumes, and business cards with photos) cannot be prepared directly. To prepare documents such as reports with images taken by digital still cameras, image files are temporarily downloaded in a PC, application software is activated, and documents are prepared using downloaded images and printed. A series of these operations takes much labor.
When the information embedded into the Exif header is referred as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-224750, dedicated application software for viewing images is required. When an image to which the information set by user is added is output in a highly convenient manner, the image must be output through the dedicated application software to a printer device.